Had the misfortune to watch about 2/3 of “The Tenth Inning” the last couple of nights and, aside from the fact I needed to repeatedly jab myself with a fork to maintain conciousness, I was struck by something during the shows.
If you haven’t seen it, suffice it to say that it was just a tad bit Red Sox/Yankees heavy. Which isn’t all that surprising, since everything baseball-related these days is a tad bit Red Sox/Yankees heavy. For those of us who don’t care about the Red Sox/Yankees (or, as I like to call us, 99% of the planet), it’s just the way it goes.
What struck me, though, was how the Red Sox fans went on and on about how life-affirming it was when the Sox won the World Series. About how they went to their parent’s graves to tell them about the Sox winning, or they remembered going to a Sox game with their Uncle Joe when they were only 4, and all that other crap that makes the rest of the country sick to its stomach.
And it just hit me as I was watching it – I will never care about a team like that. It’s not that I envy them (honestly, Red Sox fans are about as appealing to me as Blazer fans, and that ain’t much), it’s that whatever section of my brain that allows me to follow a team with complete devotion has been utterly shattered.
What’s more, I look at those devoted fans as total morons now. Having lived through the Sonics’ departure, having seen all the garbage that went on during those three years … it just opened my eyes to the fact that anybody who thinks that sports owners look at fans as anything other than ATM machines is just fooling himself.
In a way, it’s refreshing. I can watch Oregon beat Stanford this Saturday (please let it be so), and get really excited for the game, but I’m not going to die if they lose. The Mariners might lose 100 games this year but it won’t break my heart, because life goes on.
I guess you could look at that sort of detachment as sad, but I don’t, because, honestly, it’s the rabid fandom that’s much more dangerous. Without rabid fans, sports owners aren’t able to blackmail cities and states into building ridiculous palaces that unnecessarily burden taxpayers, and commissioners can’t move franchises around in some bizarre sports version of Risk.
So, while it all seems quaint and wonderful to root for the home team, you’ll forgive me if I take a pass while I keep my priorities in order.
I guess I can thank David Stern for that.
Thursday, September 30
On the Sonics, the Red Sox, and Being a Fan
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3 comments:
I've reached the same place. The fanaticism is gone. Can't tell if my sadness over the loss of the Supes is really mourning for that time in my childhood--heck, that time in LIFE even 5 years ago--when everything seemed simpler.
Welcome to the darkside, kids! The only Seahawks game I've watched in the past ten years was the Superbowl, and I probably haven't watched an entire Mariners games since 2001. For me, I think it was mostly having kids. It sort of puts your priorities in order quick (or at least it should). The other thing is, no one in my house (or hardly any of my close circle of friends) are even remotely interested in sports. It's not like I'm going to sneak off to the bar after the kids are asleep to watch the game . . . hey, that's not a bad idea!
You can't really compare a team as historic as the Red Sox to the Sonics. As cliche as it may sound, it runs a little deeper than that. Also, while owners may certainly be as greedy, there is no David Stern in the MLB.
Also, while you're off "getting your priorities straight", which does not include watching professional sports (since you're clearly far too enlightened), where does "updating my blog about a former sports team" fall? Top of the list?
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